25. Izzy
IZZY
The realm of dwarves was nothing like I’d expected.
An ex had once forced me to watch a Lord of the Rings marathon.
I’d ditched him and the evening after the first four-hour slog of a movie.
From that, I recalled something about dark caves of rough stone with a few massive halls held up by great pillars.
The caves of the dwarves here in Seial, were entirely different.
I couldn’t even tell I was deep underground most of the time.
The dwarves had used their earth magic to carve and magically support massive caves, where the ground was level and the dome above was enchanted to look like blue sky.
Great glowing stones traversed the domes: magical, make-shift sun, providing brilliant light.
Each cave was its own city, with buildings of solid stone.
Other stone formations had been summoned, looking like bushes and trees, enchanted to move and sway in a non-existent breeze.
Each little leaf was intricately depicted and delicate, despite being made of rock.
Svokol, my guide, had explained that despite their banishment to this place, the dwarves still longed for the forests which had been their home before their kind had been shunned and gone into self-imposed exile.
As we’d made our way to my meeting with the dwarves, I’d asked him to remind me why the dwarves had left the elves.
“Elves, true elves,” Svokol emphasized the words with a heavy dose of sarcasm, “Are those who can wield creation magic. The most potent and powerful of all magics. Over time, some elves lost that ability, still strong with earth and body, but not able to create in the way our kin could. We were looked down on, became second class citizens. Yet we still had our elven pride and after a while we could take no more of it, and left, seeking to create a new world of wonder for ourselves.”
I nodded, drinking in this information. All of it would be useful in dealing with the dwarves. I’d need to know their grievance with the elves if I wanted to coax them into fighting for me against those who’d once been their own kind.
We’d even managed to swing it so some high-level representatives from the undines would be here as well.
“There is something else you should know,” Svokol said as we approached a massive building. It reminded me of pictures of ancient Greek buildings before they’d been ruins, with thick white marble columns lining the front and a low-triangle-peaked stone roof.
“I’m all ears,” I said, trying to listen intently while gawking at the strangeness of this luminous underground world.
“The reason the dwarves conquered and pacified the trolls and ogres… then took control of Urval and brought the demons under their sway… it was all for fear of the elves.”
I cocked my head, one brow raised. This was interesting.
“Go on.”
“Long ago, we dwarves realized the arrogant supremacy of the surface elves might lead them to… try to conquer us, instead of letting us live our own lives, here in the depths.”
“So, you made your own army,” I finished.
Svokol nodded. “We never told them that, always suggesting our forces were at their disposal if needed, but in secret we feared them. Perhaps… because we understood them better than most.”
“So… the dwarves have always secretly been ready to fight the elves,” I concluded.
“Yes and no. We wished to be ready, in case they decided to fight us. Do you see the difference?”
I did.
“You would never actively go against them.”
He nodded.
“Because… you feared their armies, their strength, their creation magic, and so on?”
Another nod.
I sighed. I’d hoped Svokol had been giving me a way in, something to use to convince the dwarves to fight, but instead, it had been the opposite. The dwarves had been prepared to fight their cousins for thousands of years, but never had, dreading any conflict with the surface elves.
I had my work cut out for me.
We entered that massive, Greek-esque building after ascending three dozen marble stairs.
The interior was cool and spacious. Columns lined either side of the long main hall, but they had some magic on them, so they could be seen through with only a slight distortion.
Two side aisles were filled with steps, which acted like seats, all filled with dwarves who’d come to hear me speak.
I hoped they liked what I had to say.
Svokol and I — and my constant shadow, Koar — passed through more dwarves sitting in chairs in the central portion of the hall, eventually reaching a stage at the far end.
There, we had a quick private talk with a female dwarf named Kuatha, a friend of Svokol’s. She was sympathetic to our cause and had helped set up this meeting. She introduced me… then I stood to address the dwarves.
It felt like this had been all I’d been doing of late: standing up before large groups to convince them to fight. I’d rather be doing the fighting. That at least was straightforward. This talking wasn’t my forte.
Still, I’d been told to be blunt and frank with the dwarves, which helped.
“All your lives, you’ve feared the elves,” I began, a solid punch to dwarven pride. There were many unhappy grumbles throughout the crowd below. “You’ve prepared for the day you must fight them. That day is coming.” That quieted them down a bit.
I drew in a long breath. “Valnea is insane. If you can’t see that, then you’re blind. We have proof she conspired with the titans, allowing their assassins into the palace so she could eventually take control, which she has. She killed her own kind.” I let that sink in.
“If she can do that, coming for the dwarves is more likely than ever. Do I have solid proof she will? No. But if you can’t see the writing on the wall, and you stay out of this fight, and I lose… you will have no one to blame but yourselves when she comes for you.”
More grumbling.
Time to appeal to that same dwarven pride.
“You have been shunned and pushed aside for generations, when in truth, elves should be your brothers!” That got a few angry-sounding shouts against the elves.
Good. “You have made a life for yourself down here, but if you help me now, if you win this fight, you can return to the forests of Seial, a true sky above you, equal with the elves and all races. Is that not what you have always wished for?”
Several cheers rose up… but not as many as I’d hoped for.
“Are you not sick of being treated as less than those who are your equals?”
A few more cheers, but also still far too many stoic faces out there.
“Now is the time to fight, to rejoin your brethren and all races on the surface and reclaim that which you lost so long ago!”
That was my big finish… but it got only scant applause and a few cheers.
Yikes.
Tough crowd.
“What if we fight with you and lose?” someone called out. “Valnea is mad, and if we join you, she will definitely come for us, but if we stay out of this—”
“Then you’re only delaying the inevitable!” I shouted back.
“More time to prepare, and perhaps the elves will be worn down by then!” another yelled.
As I tried to find a comeback for that, someone else bellowed, “And are you not working with titans? Foul scum!”
And… there it was. Thousands of years of prejudice rearing its ugly head.
I wanted to shout back that titans were their brethren too, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me.
“Quit while you’re ahead,” Svokol whispered. “You’ve convinced some and given the rest something to think about. That is… the best we could have hoped for.”
I clenched my jaw to keep myself from screaming that I could do more, the dwarves could do more. I nodded at him and we left through a back entrance, leaving the dwarves to their debates.
We were quickly joined by a representative from the undines, dressed in flowing silks, her blue-pale skin shimmering with tiny scales. She bowed to me.
“Your words were moving,” she said, but as soon as she did, I sensed her hesitation, her careful compliment before she shot me down. “But the dwarves are a staunch people. They are safe for now and convincing them otherwise proves… difficult.”
“And the undines?” I asked directly.
She gave a sad smile and shook her head. “I will convey your words, but we, even more so than the dwarves are safe beneath our waves. The elves have no desire to conquer us. I fear we have little to gain from this fight.”
And I couldn’t even argue with that. She was probably right.
I sighed and tried not to look like someone had kicked my puppy.
“Thank you for your honesty,” I said.
The representative bowed and made her exit.
“Well, this was a bust.” I crumpled into a seat, head in hands.
“It was… the best we could have hoped for,” Koar rephrased it.
Svokol nodded his agreement.
“I sure hope Bayn can bring the titans to our side,” I said with a huff. “If he can’t… even if the angels and demons join us… I fear it won’t be enough.”
“Do not concede the fight in your mind before it is fought,” Svokol advised. It sounded like some old proverb.
He was right, though. Time to return to campus and see how the others had done.
“The titans will not follow me,” Bayn spat. “The fools!” He stomped around the residence he’d taken over in a rage.
I wasn’t happy to hear this either, but Bayn’s fury seemed to extend deeper than this refusal. I guessed it had something to do with his control issues. I remained silent, letting the man rant.
“They’ve sided with my parents, with Valnea. She offers them destruction of the elves and a place of power once they’ve destroyed their mortal enemies.”
I hesitated to question him, but… isn’t that what we’d offered as well?
He quickly went on. “They don’t like the idea of equality with the elves, they seek only their destruction.” Ah… yes, that had been a qualifier for me. “Can’t they see the bigger picture? Valnea will betray them, but they seem blind to that fact!”
He paced to a wall, punched a hole in it — not the first — then turned and paced back.
“They’re betraying themselves! They’re betraying—” He cut himself off.
Ah… so that’s why he was so upset. He felt betrayed. It made me wonder if his need for control stemmed from some betrayal.
“I need to convince them, need to save them from themselves, but… Argh!” He’d gone beyond curses to raw sounds of fury.
And I had to admit, when he got like this, the massive man was more than a little scary. Koar was nearby, and I had a feeling, as an elf, I could probably take Bayn, but… I didn’t want to test that theory here and now.
“Did any of them listen to you?” I tried.
“If they did, they didn’t come forward, bloody cowards!”
“Is there any other way?” I asked. I was pushing him when I probably shouldn’t, but the truth was, without the dwarves and undines we needed the titans.
“Only to challenge my parents, but that will take too long!”
“Perhaps—?”
“No!” He spun and shouted in my face. “It won’t work!”
I slapped him. I’d hoped the sting of pain might startle him back to reality and some sense of calm. It didn’t.
Bayn snarled and moved in on me. One massive hand clamped around my waist and lifted me, pinning me to a wall. Only, unlike last time, there was no arousal mixed with his anger.
“Don’t you dare touch me,” he hissed.
I waved Koar away, the dragon ready to come to my defense. I wasn’t that hurt yet. And if things were ever going to work out with Bayn, he and I needed to sort them out ourselves.
“Get a grip. We need to think, to plan. We can still bring the titans—”
“Weren’t you listening!” he shouted in my face.
Yeah… I wasn’t taking any more of this.
I grabbed his face in both hands, what looked like soft rounded cheeks weren’t. Every part of him was hard.
I brought his face close, his wild eyes meeting mine.
“I am not your enemy,” I snapped. “Listen to me. Calm. The fuck. Down!”
Magic flowed through me, and I knew it was wrong even as it happened, but the animal-brain part of my mind was terrified of this huge man and his fury. Even knowing I was probably stronger didn’t seem to matter. Power surged through me into him, binding him to my will.
“What the—!” He immediately released me and staggered back.
Well, fuck.
This was going to complicate things.